Suzanne Vega – Casa Alianza Benefit @ Birmingham Town Hall – 12th July 2009
Tonight’s concert is in aid of the charity Casa Alianza, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a registered charity in Britain. Casa Alianza is an international charity that works in the defence and rehabilitation of street children in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Mexico. The evening has been organised by the support act, Eddy Morton and his wife, Trina and Suzanne Vega is donating her entire fee for this one off benefit show to the charity, so there are numerous buckets around for the audience to give money to if they wish.
Eddy Morton is a singer songwriter that takes to the stage with only his electric guitar as accompaniment and an image of a street child projected on a screen above him. His set consists of seven songs, all of which sound very similar; the only distinguishing feature is in the last track, Easy, which includes a harmonica. He writes songs that are conventional and easy to listen to, and for many, that is what they want from their music. I, however, struggle because I like my music to challenge me in some way and I find myself second guessing the melody and key changes for each song.
Morton’s voice and lyrics remind me of Mike Scott at times; unfortunately, he is missing the vocal dynamics and song writing power that Scott encapsulates. I really want to like Morton’s music, as he is responsible for organising such a worthwhile event and, from his on stage banter, he appears to be a genuine guy, and I am sure a number of the audience appreciated him musically, as he was not lacking in applause.
After a brief interval, I am ready for Suzanne Vega. She takes to the stage in a calm and gentle manner, dressed in black and sporting a fantastic hat. Her band consists of two other musicians, a bassist and electric guitarist both of which bring real depth to the performance. With the first track, Marlene on the Wall, the most noticeable aspect of the music is Vega’s smooth and beautifully mellow vocals which encompass the audience immediately. This continues into Small Blue Thing, where I become more aware of the images that Vega creates with her talented use of lyrics and melody. After Caramel, she plays a couple of tracks from her latest album Beauty and Crime, Frank and Ava and New York is a Woman, both of which the crowd respond to positively. Suzanne Vega seems so at ease on stage, telling Leonard Cohen related stories from her youth and welcoming responses from the audience on the discussion as to what sort of person Birmingham is, to which someone replies transgender!
Despite the lack of drums, the various musical arrangements of each track are exceptional. For example, in Tombstone, the guitarist adds layers with his use of a loop pedal over which he plays a haunting solo. In Blood Makes Noise, the frantic pattern played by the bass over which the guitar adds feedback and distortion, contrasts so effectively with Vega’s understated vocals, that it becomes a master class in arrangement. The whole set is one superb track after another, including Left of Center, The Queen and the Soldier and Some Journey. The only weaker song being a new track called The Man Who Played God, which she has worked on with Sparklehorse and Dangermouse. The lyrics and music fail to stir up the emotions and pictures in the manner that the other songs have done tonight. However, the final two tracks take the show to another level. The emotive subject matter of Luka is moving enough when heard on record, yet hearing it live brings a tear to my eye and reminds me of why this concert is taking place. The atmosphere is lifted when she finishes with a clever and quirky rendition of Tom’s Diner, including the bells of the cathedral played on the guitar. In the same unassuming way she entered the stage, Vega leaves, but the audience are desperate for more. To our delight, Suzanne returns to play Calypso and Rosemary in her inimitable style both of which satisfy the craving audience. After thanking Eddy and Trina Morton for all their hard work in putting on the concert, she departs to a standing ovation which is whole heartedly deserved.
Suzanne Vega is at the height of her game as a singer songwriter whose music and talent have consistently stood the test of time. She left me feeling as if I had been on an emotional rollercoaster for the last hour and a quarter, yet the journey was worth every lift, dip and turn and I would repeat it all at a minute’s notice. Despite my unfavourable comments about Morton’s music, his achievements in putting on the event are phenomenal and he deserves congratulations for, no doubt, raising a large amount of money for Casa Alianza.
Please visit www.casa-alianza.org.uk for more information.
Review – Toni Woodward
Photos – Steve Bulley
A fine review Toni. I haven’t seen Suzanne Vega since oooohh 1987…ish but this was a fantastic performance along with those of her guitarist and bass player. Unfortunately, Eddy Morton wasn’t at the top of his game. Normally an excellent singer/songwriter, I felt that an electric guitar with it’s abrasive quality wasn’t the ideal partner for him last night and his usual acoustic accompaniment would of been more ideally suited. I found his singing more ‘strained’ than usual too, which is unfortunate as this was a good opportunity for him to broaden his fanbase. Despite this though a great gig in a pretty intimate setting and a good cause to boot!!
Thanks Gary. Maybe I will give Eddy Morton another go.
Thanks for the review which, unfortunately, I found very patronising.
I spoke to a great number of the audience after the show, all of whom had been completely blown away by Eddy’s performance. I don’t think you quite understand how difficult it can be to pick only 7 songs from such a large repertoire and also to pick the songs that you feel suits the mood of the evening.
I, for one, think that Eddy did a brilliant job and was the perfect person to open for Suzanne, as indeed did she by the way.
I’m sorry that you didn’t seem to ‘get it’ but maybe you should have thought about the point of the evening before being quite so negative.
By the way, we raised over £10,000 for Casa Alianza and 700 people loved it.
We are hoping to put on another show next year and, I have to say, that your review really hasn’t helped our cause in any way.
Trina Keane
Trina’s comment above has baffled me. I thought the review was more than fair and how a negative review of the support act affects the charity is beyond me! There are even two links to the charity included in the review. If Toni said she enjoyed Eddy’s performance just because it was for a worthy cause she would not be doing her job as an honest reviewer.
I understand Trina’s comments as she is Eddy Morton’s partner. I am sorry she feels that I have hindered the cause in anyway as that was not my intention and I think if you read the review fully you can appreciate how much respect I have for Eddy for putting on such a fantastic benefit. Furthermore, both myself and my guest contributed to the cause and it was my idea to add a link to the charity’s website.
Reviews are subjective and they are only one person’s opinion. As with any artist, as soon as they release their work into the public sphere it is open for criticism and the part of a reviewer is to encourage and facilitate debate.
I’ve been a fan of Suzanne Vega’s skills as a singer and songwriter for many years and was bitterly disappointed to have missed this concert. Even more disappointed as it appeared to be concert for a very worthwhile cause.
Toni’s review came across to me as being totally un-biased and gave me, the reader what came across as being a balanced review of the evening.
However, I like SG is somewhat baffled by the comments from Trina Keane. How could you possibly find Toni’s words patronising? Although she may not have been emotionally affected by Eddie Morton’s playing on this particular evening. I think the fact she made a point of explaining that tonight’s charity event is down to you both is cause for congratulation. After reading the review I am of the opinion that Eddie is a charismatic and genuine person. Does this sound patronising?
I’m sorry to say Trina that any damage caused to ‘Casa Alianza’ has been caused by your own negative words. As a reviewer, Toni needs to make at some effort to be impartial. As the wife of the support and co-organiser can the same be said of you?